Etanercept improved anemia and decreased hepcidin gene expression in a rat model of rheumatoid arthritis.

Anemia of chronic disease is considered the most common extra-articular manifestation of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The present study aimed to investigate the effect of etanercept (anti-tumor necrosis factor) on anemia and hepcidin gene expression in a rat model of RA. Rheumatoid arthritis was induced in rats by Freund Complete Adjuvant (FCA; 1 mg/0.1 ml paraffin oil, subcutaneously) on days (0, 30 and 40). Etanercept was administered subcutaneously at a dose of (0.3 mg/kg 3 times/week). Arthritis parameters, erythrocytic indices, iron profile, serum TNF-α, serum IL-6 and hepatic RT-PCR hepcidin expression were assessed. FCA-rats developed arthritis and anemia, with significant increase of serum TNFα and IL-6 levels, and of hepcidin gene expression. In RA-rats, etanercept administration improved arthritis, corrected the erythrocyte indices and restored serum iron and ferritin with significant reduction in TNF-α, IL-6 and hepcidin gene expression. Hepcidin expression was negatively correlated to erythrocytic indices and iron profile, while it was positively correlated to serum TNF-α and IL-6 levels. Etanercept improved anemia in this animal model of RA, which could be explained in part by the reduction in hepcidin gene expression.

Elsheemy MS ，Hasanin AH ，Mansour A ，Mehrez SI ，Abdel-Bary M ... -  《-》

Telmisartan alone or in combination with etanercept improves anemia associated with rheumatoid arthritis in rats: a possible role of anti-inflammatory and reno-protective effects.

Hasanin AH ，Mohamed RH 《-》

Comparative evaluation of the effects of treatment with tocilizumab and TNF-α inhibitors on serum hepcidin, anemia response and disease activity in rheumatoid arthritis patients.

Song SN ，Iwahashi M ，Tomosugi N ，Uno K ，Yamana J ，Yamana S ，Isobe T ，Ito H ，Kawabata H ，Yoshizaki K ... -  《-》

Interleukin-1 receptor antagonist gene polymorphism and hepcidin in rheumatoid arthritis: Correlations with clinical and laboratory indices of disease activity.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a systemic autoimmune disease, which is manifested as an inflammatory polyarthritis. Authors aimed to analyze the relationship between serum hepcidin, 25 amino acid protein, concentration and the anemia profiles of RA and to estimate whether it could reflect the disease activity of RA. Also, this study was conducted to explore the linkage between interleukin-1 (IL-1) receptor antagonist gene (IL-1RN) polymorphism, proinflammatory cytokine, and RA. One hundred and eighty five RA patients were enrolled in the study. For all, the following criteria were measured: RA disease activities, anemia profiles, serum concentration of hepcidin using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and DNA samples were used to study genotypes of IL-1RN gene by polymerase chain reaction. Mean concentration of serum pro-hepcidin was (93.6 ± 31.5 ng/mL) in 185 RA patients. An increased frequency of the IL-1RN*1 and IL-1RN*2 alleles was relative to active RA (DAS28 > 5.1) than those with inactive to moderate RA (DAS28 ≤ 5.1). Both hepcidin and IL-1RN gene showed significant correlation with each other as well with RA disease activity parameters and anemia profile. IL-1RN gene was significantly correlated with laboratory anemia profile apart from transferritin. There was a significant difference among pro-hepcidin concentration and IL-1RN frequency regarding patients with anemia of chronic disease and those without. In conclusion, both serum concentration of pro-hepcidin and IL-1RN genotypes frequency reflect the disease activity, regardless of the anemia states in RA patients, thus they may be another potential markers for disease activity of RA.

Swellam M ，Gabal KM ，Youssef SS 《-》

Serum pro-hepcidin levels in rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus.

Koca SS ，Isik A ，Ustundag B ，Metin K ，Aksoy K ... -  《INFLAMMATION》